latest news on the week's top stories barack obama's tough foreign policy action picks same quick softer rhetoric securitas control the white house for another four years. the greek parliament approves next year's budget with a company in the door to slashing spending to satisfy its foreign lenders in order to secure a long delay. by western powers to step down and facing death threats from the rebels the syrian president exclusively tells r.t. to stay until he's voted out. and israel takes aim at its neighbors firing its first rounds at syria since nine hundred seventy three killing six

palestinian civilians. and protects from gaza. you're watching artie's weekly news review welcome to the program well after a grueling campaign that cost almost a billion dollars barack obama secured a second term as the u.s. president he edged hard line of mitt romney setting a socially conscious domestic vision and diplomacy based focus on foreign affairs but obama's softer campaign talk soon transformed into tough action even before all the ballots have been counted what is going to explain. in the wake of president obama's reelection there was no sense of euphoria as in two thousand and eight but his victory did come as a relief to most americans his challenger mitt romney was widely seen as more aggressive especially his foreign policy rhetoric also

a seemingly out of touch with middle class america we are on american family and we rise or fall together as one nation. waiting for him right after reelection is the so-called fiscal cliff a combination of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts all we need is action from the house. and i've got the pen ready to sign the bill right away. but averting the fiscal cliff is probably not the first issue addressed by the president. he also rise the drone strike targeting a group of al qaeda militants in yemen on wednesday the u.n. has raised concerns about the legality of such strikes due to reported heavy civilian casualties on the lack of transparency on the u.s. part we're in uncharted waters when it comes to policy american policy related to drones this way the administration imposed financial sanctions against iranian officials so the u.s. planes were jamming satellite broadcasts and blocking internet access in iran that

comes on top of a whole lot of other sanctions that had been put in place by the u.s. which proved to be crippling for the iranian economy the goal is not to change the iranian government's decision making it's actually leverage ordinary civilians against the iranian government and to threaten to topple the government by inciting you know food riots or you know people who are unhappy because they can't you know their grandparents are dying and can't get medicine and on friday despite president obama's claims the u.s. should move away from the cold war thinking in relations with russia the white house launched its first permanent military presence on polish soil this year has been a constant sword in the side of relations between moscow and washington as the u.s. also plans to install missile interceptors in poland but the president every other democrat that i'm aware of is also made it clear that if we need russia is still we opposed to it still sees it as we're just going to have to go ahead with any of the president's actions so far have shown while he may be talking soft he's acting

tough looking at some of president obama's first moves after reelection one could say he takes the idea of america being the wall police very seriously but the question is who can hold that world police itself accountable in washington i'm going to check on. where former cia officer told r.t. that obama needs to break free of the pressure exerted by america's right wing. what i would suggest is that he call a press conference what he would say is you know the campaign is over and i found out that i've been grievously misled they told me to say that iran had threatened to wipe israel off the map and i found out that they never said that it's a matter of fact the israeli deputy prime minister sort of said ok ok they never said that and so my speechwriters are being canned i'm going to get some new speechwriters the intelligence community keeps telling me that he run has not yet

decided to build a nuclear weapon and so i'm going to get rid of all those folks from brookings other places who are the solve all of the speech saying well you know you still have to worry about this instead of negotiations once these troublesome people have their own agenda are dismissed then he has a square chance of saying look we're going to do a deal with the run just as i said five years ago we're going to talk directly to them and we're not going to let that be sabotaged by either israeli intelligence or israeli official or not those within the neoconservative camp in washington. well from voting machine glitches to bureaucratic barriers voting wasn't exactly straightforward for some americans but those levels have been bumped off united states accusations that it prefers to scrutinize other country's elections rather than its own and as we report later. greek lawmakers have approved

a budget for next year that will slash government spending by nine billion euros the figure demanded by international lenders the move follows the passage of another even more extensive austerity package it's part of protests on thursday the cuts in place satins now qualifies for the next tranche of bailout money from the e.u. just in time to avoid bankruptcy economist dimitris populace says that passing the budget under such terms is less about helping the economy more about external control the greek finances. the release of these lawmen wages long delayed early one point five. tranche that's the only thing that the government has just getting through the program. the program is unfair and probably is going to bring more recession or. a recovery or leaning light year what they want to do is to have full control of the project terry gratian i was

reading i was there disempowerment off and peace to have a say in the market itself so really the new conditions have to do with who is in control of the budgetary administration in greece is it the greek government or is berlin. having last say nothing. syria's president has rebuffed western calls to step down and warn that foreign intervention will spark a global disaster this in an exclusive interview for r.t. this week it's online at r.t. dot com and you can watch it on this channel later this hour interview so if you have an answer explains what bashar assad had to say. the thing that really mark me the most is how really how much more complicated situation inside series that from what we see in the media because i talk to people

yes the country is divided and even the people who didn't like us before this conflict started are now so scared that fundamentalists will come to power fundamentalists who are fighting on the side of the free syrian army and syrian people are not about that and this is like the only secular that had a lot of different religious groups always living in peace with each other whether it's sunni or shia or always or christians so they're really scared that if the army will fall apart and then you know you have this extremist muslims coming to them and asking them to basically be just like them so it's not just about assad i think people feel like whether he goes or stays. it's only can get worse if it goes because it will get i mean that the terror attacks will continue and the fundamentalists will come to power so they're very scared of that. that he's not a western puppet he also denies the fact that civil war is taking place in his country he's saying that it's not civil war it's

a conflict where he has to fight different fractions of terrorism. as on the fact that the financing of this terrorist fractions was unprecedented and it was coming from abroad he also said that if the west were to intervene militarily it would have a do you know if from atlantic to pacific the prize will be an invasion and it's going. to be more than the whole world came before because if you have a problem in syria and iraq the loss of twenty. thirty in the region and coexistence. between have a domino. to the pacific you know because you know. worth of going in but. we've got but if they do so nobody can tell what's next. but present our side says that only elections can determine his future but it seems

that not everyone agrees the free syrian army is media chiefs as they want the president's head on a plate. in his statement to your channel he said he would not leave syria we know this very well because he will not be able to leave syria he and his people will not manage to leave the country the free syrian army will not let him do this he will not get out of syria long you'll be lucky if you notice the same fate as. it is on the syrian opposition say they've signed an initial agreement to form a new umbrella coalition conference in qatar for the syrian national council has lost support in syria itself of the key activists that disavowed officials meanwhile the u.k.'s top which i know says his country made the launch of them to intervention is it is this winter this glenister franklin then says that only foreign action can talk unless at this point. absent a nato type no fly zone massive massive air strikes no i

don't think. the regime can be defeated because their air force is being supplied it still has a lot of reserves and i don't i don't see it you measure got nato or a ground invasion i think what we've seen so far of this opposition which is actually splendor against some ways they've got a very steep slope to climb the only reason we have that almost tissue quality was the threats and the courage or the political pressure that was put on them they had to do something this weekend do you think the west is going to show up in qatar and arrange a show and no result to know how long it will last we don't know and it's been twenty one months in the libya you recall and there are factions still aren't glued together and they had the benefit of nine thousand bombing runs by nato so i i think that the other problem is not the groups themselves which are very disparate

but the lack of support. they've got now among. the syrian people and what they have lost in terms of respect with through a lot of crimes they've committed a lot of assassinations and massacres and this is a last ditch effort in a sense to try to put together viable opposition and only time will tell if it's going to stick together. and that's the syrian opposition struggles to form a viable force israel for as its first rounds of the country in decades on the back of a deadly strike or civilians by israeli forces and goes a retaliation for the militants. less than a month off the end of the siege of the libyan city of brotherly find out just how much is not being revealed country's need for truth invasion itself for short break .

i never thought i could earn a living this way. natalee a shell of i as a lawyer should test small arms so that's what i was to machine building client natalee also lost count of all the weapons she's fired over the past twelve years. i got so used to it sometimes my friends ask me to join them at the rifle range and i say no way i'm so tired of shooting. the planet's history goes from making firearms during world war two to ballistic missiles from your clear submarines during the cold war the bulk of the soviet industry was moved here in the 1940's to flee the advancing germans south fuels became the heart of soviet military production closed off to foreigners for half a century it thrived on the massive moods of the soviet military when the u.s.s.r. collapsed but life here was shaken to the core but some adapted to better than

others. this is the year old truck factory brushes the number one truck maker or gravel look at how well the workplace is organized everything's done to make sure the workers don't waste time waiting there was so production is booming the factory has largely managed to get on to civil rails these giants are sold around the globe hayabusa brand new big. seventy trucks like this one. every day look at this thing absolutely huge. well i'm no formula one pilot but hopefully if i can get up that. far ahead try. to get one of these to travel to whatever it was with the cost of about forty

thousand dollars i should start saving. the british. market. find out what's really happening to the global economy with. headlines. three. three. three. three. three.

three. welcome back israel's military is engaged on both its northern and southern front right now the country has fired into syria in response to a mortar attack on the golan heights and is warning of tougher action against militants in gaza. from the palestinian territories. reports. only on sunday afternoon israel fired into syrian territory for the first time since the nine hundred seventy three war as though clearly of with the israeli defense forces listen unit who did confirm that these warning shots took place he said that they were in response to a mortar shell for link near and the israeli military post in the golan heights now these ladies do not believe that they were the target they do believe that the

shell was part of the byproduct of the internal fighting taking place in syria between forces loyal to side and rebel fighters but the army is saying that it would tolerate more attacks on syria that violates the disengagement agreement between israel and syria now there have been several such incidents over the past two weeks just last week three syrian tanks crossed over the demilitarized zone between the two countries alarming israelis and also causing them to raise their alert in the area the idea has filed a complaint with the united nations saying that any kind of high image meeting from syria into israel will be responded to also on the southern israeli border we have seen a flare up of violence between the israelis and palestinian militants the latest we heard from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is that his country is ready to strike harder against the gaza strip if it does not stop attacking israel he made these remarks today sunday at the weekly cabinet meeting in which he said

and i'm quoting that the world must understand that israel cannot sit idly by while attempts are made to attack it the hostilities along the israel gaza border have it's going to choppy particularly this past weekend this follows israeli airstrikes that killed six palestinians four of whom were teenagers and two of whom belonged to the militant group islamic jihad according to the gaza health ministry spokesperson there are a number of people who were injured the biggest stands at around thirty eight including children the problem though is that often in these israeli airstrikes israel lands of killing civilians and not militants as its intention. it is a must has taken responsibility for this attack there were four israeli soldiers wounded in action and response from the palestinian side was dozens of rockets that were fired into southern israel on sunday morning the whole sort of israel is in a state of high alert and this comes of palestinian militants about taking very much for these tips now flare ups along the israeli gaza border are quite common

and we had seen already two flare ups this month this though is one of the highest casualty counts in gaza in a single incident in recent months policy reporting there and sectarian violence between rival religious groups breaks out in neighboring lebanon three people died in a gun battle between a sunni followers of a hardline cleric and hezbollah fighters comes at a time when sharon muslims including his bill are marking a ten day morning ritual instant is the latest in the spillover of violence from neighboring syria which analysts say is a mirror image of lebanon's own sectarian defiance. violent clashes have broken out in warsaw after around twenty thousand people marched polish independence day protesters chanted anti-government slogans and threw firecrackers security forces used rubber bullets tear gas and battens to bring the situation under control two police officers were injured and several right wing nationalists were detained. at

least twelve people have been killed and dozens more injured in a devastating earthquake in myanmar the six point eight magnitude quake struck near the largest city of london a collapsing a bridge and throwing workers into the river is the biggest earthquake to hit the country since twenty seven. and the u.n. nuclear watchdog says iran is carrying out what could be cleanup activity but one of its key military bases which the i.a.e.a. wants to inspect for nuclear research projects the parchin site hasn't been visited by the un since two thousand and five and some western countries suspect tehran of using it to hide elements of a weapons program iran though it strongly denies trying to develop a nuclear deterrent and i says there's good reason to believe the iranians will cooperate with inspectors. libya is trying to tout its wealth of ancient ruins to encourage tourists back to the country after the revolution visitors went away but the country's most recent history is off the map because i don't like it

and learn much about the deadly siege of bani walid less than a month ago. reports we're here at the world travel market a trade say taking place in london where people can consulates holiday inspiration that scouts exotic spot for honey one country you probably wouldn't expect to see being touted as a tourist. and that's libya the places where the tourist interesting the site is a political sideshow it's completely safe. save more than even big towns like london or new york but there's somewhere that's not mentioned in the guide the bani walid a desert town this remain loyal to formally to. its just a few hours dry southeast of the traditional tourist destination chipley but it's a world away from the safe environment the two guides the pitching. the town's

become the scene of some of the fiercest fighting since the libyan uprising last year but despite reports of indiscriminate shelling and gas attacks on the local population at the hands of the libyan army there's been an almost total media blackout in the. field around the story for more than a fortnight before anyone else picked it up back in london and despite libya being showcased it seems that bani walid has once again been conveniently left out the conversation when i saw. it was of course with surprise and i came. back of the situation at the moment and if we have so many people it means situations they could be coming most and we can think for next season to do something with libya and it's a wonderful country so. what about what's happening in bani walid at the moment. but do you mean what's happened was being happening there there's been fighting do you know about that no we went to confront the tour operator i saw you speaking

some people you telling them about what's been happening in at the moment. this is . for the. president because it was deeply disturbing is that despite a growing body of evidence about crimes against civilians and increasingly vocal concerns from human rights organizations ek media and government remain resolutely silent i've got to sort of package nish as a success it's very important for nato so we have the. country have been liberated in inverted commas as great places to go great places to invest and the reality for the everyday person in these countries is a living hell really pick up one travel information pack in new york be given reasons to visit libya and undoubtedly there are many there's a concerning silence that's been echoed by the u.k. media a seeming refusal to fall. about what's been happening in places like that anyway

the reality is that the new government is struggling to control its militias and bridge the deep divides that remain in the country but none of that you'll going to meet about in a cafe by. the london from a country that's on track to become the world's largest economy is preparing for its once in a decade transfer of power china is expected to announce a list of its top officials on wednesday if he tells us this will. catalonia wants to get its independence from the rest of spain locals feel that madrid texas all of catalonia economic success is a way putting the region into debt trust me hard only to have it all taxed away is very aggravating i can see why people are frustrated but the people who want

independence have a very odd slogan kevin lonia a new european state so let me get this straight you want independence but you want to stay in the e.u. is that what you mean what exactly would that change that's not really gaining independence that shifting dependencies staying in the e.u. means you won't have control of your borders you'll still be on the euro so you won't have your own currency you'll be able to establish your trade standards those will be dictated to you by brussels and if you don't like the austerity measures from outsiders like in madrid then you might want have a conversation with the greeks because being an independent country in the e.u. won't save you from people messing with your finances all i'm saying is that big truly independent means answer to no one not madrid not brussels but that's just my opinion. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something

else and you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom hartman welcome to the big picture. do we speak your language anytime of the war not a day in. school music programs and documentaries and spanish matters to you breaking news a little tonnage of angles couldn't stories. for you here. to enjoy it all to spanish find out more visit i. all tito it's calm. resistance is not a politics but a culture i. couldn't

speak against. on its own. cultures of resistance on martine. download the official ati up location to cell phone choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites from alzheimer's t.v. is not required to watch on t.v. all you need is your mobile device to watch r.t. any time. welcome back so china this week launched its once in a decade transfer of power the communist party congress is now reviewing the best

of candidates for the country's top body and is expected to announce them on wednesday the incoming top officials were found to tackle the great challenges facing the world's second largest economy the i.m.f. predicts it will overtake the u.s. and become number one by twenty sixteen beijing is promising to increase its influence across the globe by buying up businesses in europe and developing africa's vast natural resources but. traces the nation's rise. lighting the flame on the international stage building to new heights on this world . and soaring beyond its limits whether it outer space the arctic outer continental shelf or on your local store shelves china is making its ambitions known let's see this is made in china. made in china china well cheap economic goods have translated into massive profits for china as well as criticism you know this comes

amid growing concern that china is using its economic clout for political leverage . different. trying not very promising country. in europe with the rising twenty trial less than fine the i.m.f. says china could surpass the us economically in real terms by twenty sixteen it may not help the countless chinese who live in poverty but it sure makes rivals nervous china's economic clout has grown it is now the second largest economy in the world it's the second largest manufacturing exporter and the rimini the trainees currency is playing an increasingly important role in the world economy so there is a shift in relative economic might in the world that might have been threatened by the economic slowdown and it would be up to china's new leaders to try to reverse the trend for now they seem to be getting their way.